would be understood to express—
"If you wish, I will come; but if otherwise, there is an end of the matter."
T. C.
Durham, April 8. 1851.
Places called Purgatory (Vol. iii., p. 241.).—There is a farm-house still called "Purgatory," about two miles south of Durham, east of the London road, and close to the left bank of the river Wear. The farm is part of the estate of a highly respectable family, which has, I believe, always been Roman Catholic. No reason for the name is known in the neighbourhood.
T. C.
Durham, April 8. 1851.
Swearing by Swans, &c. (Vol. ii., p. 392.; Vol. iii., pp. 70. 192.).—In addition to what has already appeared on this subject, the following extract from Tyrwhitt's Glossary to Chaucer will, I hope, be acceptable.
"Ale and Bred. This oath of Sire Thopas on ale and bred was perhaps intended to ridicule the solemn vows, which were frequently made in the days of chivalrie, to a peacock, a pheasant, or some other noble bird."—See M. de Sainte Palaye, Sur l'anc. Cheval., Mem. iiime.
This practice is alluded to in "Dunbar's Wish that the King were Johne Thomsonnis man" (MS. Maitland, st. v.):